The First Demon War - Episode 0 - The Nymph of Madriguera
by sgt Tarr
Summary: A company of Hunters travels trough space, sent on a secret mission by the Men and Women of Letters. With them travels a wizardess by the name of Luna Lovegood. A researcher from the wizard clan in search of the otherworldly. Not knowing she'll find more than rare creatures as she and the hunters stumble upon a city. A city where every year a curse takes the lives of two victims.
1. Prologue

**Fandoms:** Supernatural, X/1999, Merlin, Sherlock, Harry Potter

 **Genre:** crossover with a bit of canon fussion and inspiration from the Hunger Games for the worldbuilding

 **Pov characters:** Daisuki Saiki, Luna Lovegood, Sorata Arisugawa, Original characters

 **Pairings:** Sorata Arisugawa/Arashi Kishu

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters eccept for the ones I created myself.

I only borrowed the characters from Supernatural, X/1999, Merlin, Sherlock and Harry Potter from their creators to create a story I have wanted to write for quite some time now.

* * *

 **Madriguera – a war fortress on the Ganesa Macula cryovolcano**

 **Inhabitants: 1**

The Madriguera, proud fortress of a little village called Relicario Aldea, situated at the foot of Ganesha Macula. The fortress dates back from the time of the Ares Wars and was once witness to the atrocities that took place during the wars. Now it's largely a ruin and the courtyard where once the clash of arms and the laughter of the soldiers could be heard, only silence reigns.

The inhabitants of Relicario Aldea build the fortress on the cryovolcano's edge facing the large plain, so that the advancing enemy could be noticed ahead of time. The inhabitants who were old enough to fight were sent to the fortress to be trained as soldiers in preparation for possible battles. But as it was such a remote place to not be a part of their first invasion, it took years before the enemy decided to travel towards Ganesha Macula. Giving the small army inside Madriguera ample of time to develop into an army capable enough to withstand the siege of the Soldiers of Ares for a long time.

But the inhabitants of Relicario Aldea lost the war regardless and the Madriguera is now the home of a ghost, doomed to haunt the fortress until she's redeemed from the role she played in the downfall of her people.

xxxx OU xxxx

 **Relicario Aldea - Titan**

Somewhere on a street in a neighborhood at the good part of Relicario Aldea, a young Titan storms out the door, banging it against the wall with a bang. She turns towards the doorway where the light from inside shines on the cobbles of the street and calls: "One of this days, you've got to let me decide my own life, mother. Cause if this doesn't change, I will one day not come back anymore."

Hair swishing she turns around and runs down the street as tears begin to fill her eyes. It wasn't the first time that they were fighting. Since the death of her father and her brother Epiktetos, her mother had been afraid of losing her too. Judging the change of that happening too great, her mother began to watch and stipulate her every move, the coming and goings of her friends and decreeing who Demetria could and couldn't see.

At first she had understood her mother's concern, but as she grew older she wanted to decide for herself with whom she associated with and where she went. The first time when Demetria had expressed her displeasure, her mother had hit her for the first and last time. Demetria had raced out the door, crying, and only stopped running when she'd grown tired. While running she hadn't really paid attention at her surroundings, which was why she'd ended up in an unfamiliar part of the city.

She looked at her surroundings and saw that the houses were built in a style that had been wildly popular with the wealthy families of Relicario Aldea, a few centuries back. By the state of decay of the facades and the unkept gardens at the front, Demetria judged that only a few people were living here, with little money.

Almost abstracted from view as it was overgrown with plants, she'd seen the imposing statue of Titan's biggest warlord in history by change, and had looked for more statues in the other gardens. Between the flower beds, she'd seen several statues of other, smaller warlords, in different sizes and postures. Some of them had sat with their sword on their laps, while others had stood like they were looking out over their armies.

But not all the gardens had statues of Titan's heroes. When Demetria ended up at the garden of the building in the middle of the row of houses, she'd found some statues which at first glance looked like they had been of Titans, but at closer inspection had had some differences. They'd looked strange, with characteristics that Demetria had never seen before. Instead of fur, black scales cover their bodies, and upon their faces they had white smudges, forming a mask around fiery red eyes. Wondering if there were more of these statues, she'd looked in the other gardens. But after searching them two times over, she had to deduce to her dismay that this was not the case.

After a while she'd followed the road, curious where the street would leed her to, until she ended up on the outskirts of the city where she found the ruins that would be her safe haven for the times to come. She'd remained there for half an hour, after which she searched for a way back home.

Afterwards they still fought and the number of rules hadn't changed, but Demetira was determined not to abandon her mother. And so, after each fight, she would leave home and hide at her place in the ruins until they both had calmed down.

The ivy and moss-covered ruins appear before her and Demetria hops across a low wall as she enters the run-down building. She walks through the old corridors to a large room at the end of the building, where she sticks her hand into a hollow inside the wall and takes out a torchlight and a little hurricane-lamp.

She places the lamp on the ground and walks with torchlight in hand to a room at the other side of the corridor. There she digs-up a rolled-up sleeping mat and a pillow from under the pile of wood at the end of the room.

Back in her 'hole' she rolls out her sleeping mat, turns out her lights and lays with a tired sigh her head on the pillow and falls asleep instantly.

)(

The sudden cold wakes Demetria up from a pleasant dream. She shivers as she sits up and pulls her arms around her. Strange, it's never this cold in here. She stands up and walks around to get herself warm.

She thinks about going to the other room and using the wood to make a fire and picks up the torchlight as she moves towards the corridor. She's about to leave the room when suddenly the light in her hand begins to flicker and ice-cold hands seem to grab her by the neck. She turns around with a startled cry and sees something that curdles her blood.

On the other side of the room she sees the apparition of a Titan male. He's covered in blood and is wearing a centuries old harness of a soldier from the Peoples Army of Ares, dating back from the Great War. His uncanny eyes look at her intensely as he starts to walk towards her with a grin on his lips, promising her a slow and painful death.

She's about to run away, when out of nowhere a second figure emerges behind the first apparition. He too wears the armor of a soldier, but where the eyes of the first one are black, _his_ eyes are a fiery red. The same red Demetria had seen on the statues in that particular garden at the declining area of the city.

The second soldier draws his sword, swings it upward with two hands and swoops it down on the head of the first soldier, splitting it in two. Demetria cries out as the injured Titan's knees buckle and starts to fall on the ground only to disappear before he reaches the broken flagstones. The non-Titan soldier turns his head towards her as he removes his right hand from his sword and extents it in her direction. Blood begins to drip from his claws as he stares at her without a word and disappears in thin air with a growl.

Demetria drops to her knees and starts to cry in her hands. By the time the room has his old temperature back, her throat starts to hurt and her tears become thicker and warmer. Demetria pulls her hands away and sees to her horror that they're slippery with blood. While fear grips her heart, she tries to stop the bleeding, but no matter what she does, the flood of blood doesn't stop. Demetria begins to wail for her mother as the burning in her throat gets to a point where it is agonizingly painful.

Somewhere she knows that no one will hear her, that this place is desolate, that it is more prudent for her to save her energy to get to the inhabited parts of the city, but the fear of what's happening to her has her in its grip, making her enable to think clearly. She collapses and lies on the ground in a fetal position until she begins to thrash around as unseen blows crash upon her, leaving bruises on her body. Her struggle to get away from the blows lasts for a few minutes when the violence suddenly ends.

Sobbing Demetria turns on her stomach and starts to crawl towards the door, when hands yank her back and throw her against the wall. Demetria begins to choke as invisible hands squeeze her throat and contusions start to appear on her neck. Wheezing she tries to find the source of her pain but her bloodied hands are only met with empty air as she grabs for her neck. After a short struggle, Demetria stops fighting back as her hands are pinned on the wall. Mewling and with excruciating pain, she positions her head slowly towards the window opposite her and looks on last time to the clear sky outside where the sun begins to appear on the horizon.

 _Mom,_ she thinks as the light starts to disappear from her eyes and death takes her inside its embrace, _I'm sorry that I should leave like this, that we were torn apart after a stupid fight._

 _I hope that you can be happy without us, eventually, and that you will not hold unto the past as frantically as you did with me after the death of dad and Epiktetos._

A few kilometers from the ruins, Demetria's mother awakes with a jolt. As if she knows that her world has irrevocably fallen to pieces once and for all, she runs outside and starts to scream for her daughter.

And while the sun gently caresses her daughter's ice-cold body, the last bit of mental health disappears from her life as madness takes a hold of her, squashing her soul in its embrace.


	2. So long you're fine, everything is okay

**District UnderAvalon – Earth**

A young dragon walks with great effort through the thick blanket of snow. His breath condenses in the air as he squeezes his eyes against the bright light of the sun. He's dressed in a long red coat, with black bands at the end of his sleeves and the left side of his jacked, where the coat is fastened by red straps and gold buckles. As is the wide belt at his waist that pulls the coat tighter around him and the two chest pockets with golden buckles. He walks leaning forward as he keeps his hands inside his coat pockets, which are accentuated by its black lining.

Arrived at the hospital, Saiki Daisuki stomps his feet and pads the remaining snow from his pants. As the double doors open before him, he walks inside and goes straight to the reception at the end of the hall. Daisuki is glad for the warmth inside and pulls of his black gloves as he comes to a stop at the desk of the reception.

"Good morning ma'am" he says to the woman behind the desk.

"Good morning. What can I do for you, sir?" she greets him.

"I'm looking for the sentry who was brought here last night. His name is Arisugawa?"

She turned toward her computer and typed on her computer as she entered in the specifics. "They brought him to room 214 after they stitched him up. If you take the elevator to the second floor. You can find his room at the end of the corridor at the right." He thanked her as he wished her a nice day and walked towards the elevators.

He thinks about yesterday evening and the events preceding their flight to the hospital while they carried the wounded Arisugawa between them. Arashi had surprised them with her emotional breakdown when she'd seen the state Arisugawa had been in, and Daisuki began to wonder if Arisugawa's love for his friend wasn't as unrequited as everyone had thought.

)(

Two figures in the uniforms of the Dragons of Heaven were standing in the square of an abandoned little town looking out over the forest at the south border of UnderAvalon as the snow slowly drifted from the sky blanketing the hard frozen ground. Daisuki blows in the cup of his hands as puffs of air drift out of his mouth, and stamped his feet to stay warm. They hadn't started any fire despite the cold so they wouldn't give away their position to anyone who wanted to cross the border.

He looked at his friend and squad-mate, Arashi. She was standing a few away steps away from him by one of the rundown houses and had a pensive look in her eyes as she, sensing his attention, looked towards him. He signed her to ask if she was just as cold as he was, when the ground under their feet began to tremble.

"An earthquake?" Arashi asked him.

Daisuki – his attention drawn to the forest where a lightning bold in the form of a dragon could be seen above the tree tops, shook his head. "No, it's a Dragon of Earth."

Small streams of air started to circle his finger tips as he summoned his wind powers and looked at his partner. Arashi had lifted her arm straight at her side, palm up and her wrist bend down. Meat strips and pieces of bone shot out her left hand, forming a sword as it was bound against her palm by strips of skin. The first few times he seen her do that, his stomach had squeezed together, but Arashi had assured him that she'd been used of the pain for a long time.

Suddenly, metal tubes and electric cables shot forth from the ground, as they made their way towards them from the forest. Daisuki ran to the left until he was at a safe distance from Arashi. He turned around quickly and send a gale of wind towards the cables that attacked him.

With the electric cables ripped apart, Daisuki turned his attention on his comrade who'd jumped on a lamppost. With her sword, Arashi cut the tubes apart that beleaguered her, when suddenly a new wave of electric cables wound its way around the pole. "Arashi" he'd called while she fell forward when the cables destroyed the lantern. Daisuki was able to soften her fall with a small gust of wind when something behind her attracted his attention.

"Behind you!" He yelled when metal tubes lifted one of the rundown houses and let go of the building above her. Daisuki who knew he would be unable to save her from being crushed called her name desperately when the building suddenly came to a halt.

Daisuki couldn't move as he looked at the scene before him. He could barely discern a gigantic figure towering over Arashi as the creature held the building with one arm above its head. Sensing the creature hadn't long before it was crushed, Daisuki called Arashi's name to attract her attention. She must have heard him because she turned towards him and he called to her: "This way, quickly."

As soon as Arashi ducked out from under its shadow and into safety, the creature collapsed and was crushed beneath the pile of debris.

"Are you alright, did you get hurt?" He asked as he helped Arashi stand.

"I'm fine" she said, "but that thing just now…."

"It saved you didn't it?" Daisuki asked her, still not sure what had happened.

"yes... at least I think so. It was a Goho Doji, I think judging by its markings."

Daisuki looked puzzled. "You mean those things summoned by monks who practice esoteric Buddhism?" Arashi looked at him anxiously and was about to ask him something, when a shout interrupted her.

"Kishu! Saiki!" startled by the sudden outburst of their names, Daisuki turned around when he saw Ryuu walk towards them with a half conscious Arisugawa beside him. The wounded dragon had his left arm around Ryuu's shoulder as he leaned on him to stay upright while they walked. "Sorata!" Arashi cried as she ran towards the two. Daisuki followed her close behind and as he came closer he saw Arisugawa's body littered with awful looking cuts and bruises. Especially those on his head and arms were losing a great amount of blood.

"What happened?" he asked Ryuu while he opened his provisions pack to look for bandages.

"I don't know." Replied Ryuu as he lays Arisugawa on the ground gently. "We were on our way to you guys when he suddenly fell down and started bleeding."

Daisuki had found the bandages and began to bandage Arisugawa along Arashi, who was still frantically calling the wounded dragon's name as she bandaged his head. "Were you guys attack by a Dragon of Earth too?"

Ryuu shook his head and frowned "No, there wasn't anyone near us. That's what makes it so odd."

Daisuki reminding how Arashi had wanted to ask him something about the Goho Doji before Ryuu interrupted them, turned towards Arashi to ask her, when Arisugawa opened his eyes and put a bloodied hand against Arashi's cheek. "Nee-san" he whispered "are you injured?"

She shook her head as tears stained her face. "I'm fine, stop worrying about me! It's you who got hurt."

Arisugawa smiled as a trickle of blood slipped down the corner of his mouth. "As long as nee-san is alright, everything's alright." he said, when suddenly he leaned forward and began to cough up blood and lost consciousness.

Daisuki saw her stiffen and heard her whisper "So it was, your Goho Doji that…" when Ryuu called "Saiki, we have to bring him to the hospital, now!" grabbing his attention. Daisuki nodded and walked to Arisugawa's other side. They put his arms slowly and carefully around their shoulders. With joined forces they lifted the injured man between the two of them when Arashi broke out of her stupor and suddenly grabbed the frond of Arisugawa's uniform, preventing them to move forward. "Sorata! Sorata!" she yelled frantically "Please open your eyes!"

"Arashi!" Daisuki grabbed her by her shoulder as he pushed her away, forcing her to listen to him. "Sorata will pull through." She stared him in the eyes with a blank look on her face as he continued "He will pull through if we take him as quickly as possible to a hospital where they can treat his wounds." She'd nodded feebly and stepped out of their way.

)(

Having arrived at the second floor, Daisuki steps out the elevator and goes right.

They'd arrived on time and Arisugawa turned over in the save hands of the nursing staff before he'd bled to death. Arashi had stayed behind in the hospital to keep the dragon company while he pulled through the worst of the healing process.

Arrived at the chamber he went to knock at the door when from within a cry sounded "Arashi!"

With a bang the door crashed in Daisuki's face, shoving him to the ground. Wind begins to blow gently between his fingers as he readies himself for a possible attack and looks up to see who had thrown the door open with such force.

Irritated by the sight of Arisugawa standing in the doorway with a contorted look on his face, he lets his powers unwind and says with force: "Warn me the next time when you plan on opening doors this way."

"Sorry" Arisugawa sags against the doorpost and stares before him as he leans forward.

"Where's Arashi?" asked Daisuki beginning to worry.

"She's gone, Saiki" Arisugawa says as he begins to breathe heavily "And it's all my fault."

Daisuki frowned as he walked over the other dragon and says "Did something happen between you and Arashi?" The other man shakes his head and hides his face behind his hands as he whispers "No, it's not something that happened, but rather something we did." He lifts his head as he furrows his brows "And now I have this ominous gut feeling."


	3. The Dunes of Madriguera

**Madriguera – Titan**

A column of military vehicles made their way through the sand desert of Titan, a cloud of dust trailing behind them. When they had left that morning from their landing site, Saturn was still clearly to be seen on the horizon. Now yellow brown clouds began to gather, when the first lightning made its way to the ground.

To see the spectacle before her more clearly, a young sorceress with light blond hair leaned over the shoulder of the man driving the middle vehicle. Despite her study of Jupiter's moon, Luna Lovegood hadn't expected it to be that impressive. The different forks were clear to see. At every thunderclap, Luna Lovegood waited expectantly for the lightning that would follow, wondering what form it would take.

Suddenly, there was a deafening boom and the vehicle before them was hit by multiple bolts of lightning. The electricity shot down from the clouds, hitting the vehicle with full force and spread over the metal making its way to the ground below. Without blinking Luna watched as the vehicle was light up by white blue lightning, so she wouldn't miss anything of the impressive spectacle before her. Impressed as she was by the beauty of the power display of Titan's nature.

A second thunderclamp followed, louder than the previous one as their vehicle was hit by the lightning bold that followed. The hairs on Luna's arm became static as she narrowed her eyes against the bright light that invaded the vehicle.

The lightning travelled from the vehicle into the ground, and they rode out from under the thundercloud. Luna looked at the computer screen which was now black. Something must be done about that. She thought to herself. They wouldn't benefit if their equipment would fail by every storm that struck them.

The column drove on until the storm was over. The ground had become rougher and before them appeared the dunes of Titan. The vehicle at the frond stopped and a man dressed in the uniform of the sixth legion of the Peace Corps got out. The storm had caused a lot of damage and Lestrade wanted to fix it so they would't move on blindly. After all, the arm of the Men and Women of Letters had not been here before. So they hadn't enough information to know what kind of supernatural beings they would be facing, and that fact alone was as much uncertainty as he was willing to face.

Anderson stepped up to him and told him that the board computers in all three vehicles were out of commission. His voice was muffled by the mouth cap which provided the hunter of oxygen, and Lestrade had to do his best to follow him.

"My estimate is that the image went black cause of the sensors overheating. The motherboard of the computers are still intact as are the batteries. The navigation system is down for the moment, but will be back online in a few minutes."

Lestrade nodded: "Tell the rest we move on as soon as the navigation is back on. I want to be at our checkpoint before nightfall. And tell them to keep watch while we wait. We are more exposed than I would like right now."

The sergeant motioned for Anderson to leave as he was no longer needed, and turned to the vehicle behind him as he gave two hunters the order to stand on the lookout.

Two minutes passed without incident when the navigation was back on and everybody went into the vehicles. A minute later, the column pulled up and into the dunes.

)(

The clouds had pulled away towards the evening and Saturn again clearly visible in the sky. The vehicle at the frond turned the left and stopped behind a dune. The rest followed so that the entire column was out of sight of the path they had been following for a while now.

The engines were turned off as its occupants got out. While camp was set up, Lovegood walked away from the group and started for the dunes. Becky Rosen and Andrew Parker following close behind. Two hunters who were assigned as her bodyguard.

The trek was slow because the wizardess stopped from time to time, to pick up things from the ground to examine. Becky watched as she took her wand out from its leather sheath at her side. Lovegood then circled the wand above a sample of the soil in her left hand while she muttered an incantation. Although she knew that a peace treaty had been in place for quite some time between the humans and the wizard clan from Hogwarts, Becky still struggled to really trust the other woman.

After a moment Lovegood had finished her investigation and took out a roll of parchment from her breast pocked to jot down her findings. When she was done, they walked for a while further until the last bit of daylight disappeared from the horizon and they ended up at a plain behind the second dune. The small bulb of light Lovedgood had summoned when dust started to settle in, lighting their way.

Now with the daylight completely gone, the wizardess gestured with her wand and the ball of light became bigger. Softly illuminating the plain before them. Lovegood motioned Becky and Andrew to stand guard. Becky pulled a face to show how she felt about that, but walked to the edge of the plain without comment.

While Luna recited her spells over the whole plain, both hunters patrolled the edges of the site to keep her from running into any danger while she conducted her research.

Since she stepped out, she had felt that something interesting was hidden in this area. And so she had walked into the dunes while she searched for new raw materials. When she arrived at the plain, the feeling had only become stronger.

Luna waited expectantly for her spell to pick up something interesting, when the tip of her wand glowed green. She relaxed her hand so that the wand was loosely in her hand, and looked down to see where it was pointing. It turned to the right and Luna started walking in that direction until the wand pointed downwards.

"Accio Luminos." The orb of light floated towards her so she could see where her spell had let her. Nothing of any interest as far as she could see. She made a graceful gesture with her wand through the air and looked at the words forming in the air before her. _Interesting_.

She recited a new spell, so she could take a look at what was buried under the ground. The red light from the spell spread over the ground around her and made the soil see-through.

"Holy shit wizardess. That's a lot of dead bodies." Luna ignored the remark made by one of her guards and knelt on the ground. The mass grave which had become visible, had diameter of several meters and was full of remnants of instruments that she suspected had once been weapons, countless skulls and other bones.

She would like to do some more research to find out how the creatures buried here, had looked like. But it was late, and she was too tired to do the series of complicated incantations that would be required to do just that.

She turned towards the man standing next to her, and said: "We'll go back here tomorrow, to find out what was buried here." And what happened here. But the latter she kept to herself. Knowing them, the hunters were only interested in what kind of supernatural beings were living on Titan. The past only interesting during the hunt, when it was relevant for getting rid of the monster they were hunting.

Luna stood back up, and dusted her knees while the hunter reported to his partner that they would go back to camp.

)(

The next morning brought a chill that crept into Lestrade's bones. He shivered as he dug through his duffel bag, to find the measuring instrument to read the climate. He picked up the black box and turned it on. The display lit up blue. He selected the data he wanted and waited for the device had done its thing. -175°C

He turned it off and resumed to dug through his bag. He pulled out a little box and opened it. Inside were a syringe, a few needles and a blood meter. He picked up the needle and stuck it in the crook of his left arm. Then he dropped the blood sample on the meter and checked the results.

Good, the amount of antifreeze in his system was still quite low. He cleaned the needle and threw it away. Then he took a bottle with the synthetic antifreeze, and filled the syringe with a small amount of its content, enough to protect against the cold. But not enough to be lethal, and injected the fluid inside his artery.

It effects was immediately as it entered his system, and Lestrade felt the cold waining. He got up, got dressed and walked towards Parkers bunk bed and shook him awake.

"We leave in three minutes. Make sure you're ready by then to go to the mass grave from yesterday." The hunter growled as he opened his eyes and sat up, and Lestrade went outside.

It was still dark, and two hours before they would leave. He walked to the wizardess's tent which was a few steps away from the barracks.

"Rosen." He nodded to the brown-haired woman standing guard and asked: "Did she sleepwalk tonight?"

"Not tonight, sir. Should I wake her up?"

He nodded: "We have two hours to explore the creatures you found in the mass grave. You have two minutes to get ready. We meet up at the barracks."

She saluted and went inside the tent, while Lestrade turned around and walked back.

Becky stepped into the tent and led her eyes slid over the sleeping form on the bed, before the continued their way over the wooden chest at the foot of the bed, and the table loaded with test tubes, scales and other equipment. The exact function of them eluding her.

She took a deep breath to keep her nerves under control, and walked as noisily as possible towards the bed. Pale blue eyes peered dreamily from under light blond hair of the wizardess, and Becky swallowed thickly as a shiver crept down her back.

"Good morning wizardess Lovegood. Sergeant Lestrade wants to see us in two minutes at the barracks.

"To investigate the mass grave?" She asked in a soft voice. Becky nodded and stepped back as the wizardess sat upright, to get out of her way.

"The temperature has dropped during the night, so keep that in mind. Take note we have only two hours to go the area and explore it. So make sure you have everything you will be needing for the research, when we leave."

The other nodded and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She was wearing shoes. So, in her own words, she wouldn't go barefoot when she started sleepwalking.

A cold wind blew inside and Becky shivered. "If you want, I can recite a heat spell for you. It has fewer risk than the liquid you hunters use." Pale blue eyes looked at her without blinking, and Becky had to contain herself in order not to bite her head off.

"That wouldn't be necessary, Wizardess Lovegood. The liquid we use was developed by the organization and therefore perfectly save for us to use."

The wizardess shrugged and walked past Becky as she moved towards her chest. She crouched on her knees and took from it the rest of her outfit. Becky keeping a close eye on her, while she assembled the equipment she needed.

When she indicated that she was done, Becky motioned for the other to walk at front, and together they made their way towards the barracks. Where Lestrade and Parker were waiting for them.


	4. The city at the foot of Madriguera

**Relicario Aldea - Titan**

Relicario Aldea, the city built at the foot of the cryovulcano Madriguera. Luna had travelled here with her two guards and two other hunters. While Lestrade and the rest of the company were hiding in the dunes around the city.

Luna'd wanted to know more about the creatures that they'd found in the mass grave. And had insisted to let her go on her own. Lestrade had agreed that a large group would attract to much attention, but had refused to let her go alone.

Luna looked at the hunters before her. They'd exchanged their ACU's for civilian clothes. The were loose enough to hide their weapons. She felt the stares from the hunters who walked behind her. She wondered for the umpteenth time to what extent they were sent to guard her safety.

"I suggest we split up. Two of us will look for a place to spent the night, while the rest of us research. Look for a abandoned house in a rundown environment.

Any questions?" Parker looked everyone in the eyes. When nobody said anything, he nodded and pointed at Rosen and another hunter. "Rosen, Kelley. You two will look for place to sleep. Only make contact when you're in trouble, clear?" Everyone nodded. "Good, then we meet here at twelve hundred hours."

The group split up, and Rosen left with Kelley. She bumped shoulders with Luna when she walked past her, and looked into her eyes as Luna turned towards her.

"Excuse me, Wizardess." She said in a flat voice, and walked on without waiting for Luna's answer, with her back straight. _Would the hostility and distrust ever lessen_? Luna asked herself, as she stared at the retreating back of the hunter.

)(

The minute they walked into town, it was obvious that aliens actually existed.

They were huge, had the skin of an amphibian and had horns. Kelly, who was one of their world tallest human, came to chest height.

The second thing Becky noticed, was that there were differences to each set of horns. Where the horns by one alien looked like that of a goat, the other alien's horn were more like that of sheep.

Kelley nudged her shoulder. "Pay attention Rosen, we must find a place to sleep before noon." Becky nodded and payed attention on analyzing the condition of the houses around them. As well as the creatures passing them on the street.

They'd started their search on the outskirts of the city. The chance of finding a vacant house here was larger than in the center of the city. Where the well-kept houses of the rich and the elite were.

The buildings here were high and the streets narrow. The architecture was different to those on earth and the building materials used, unrecognizable. "The houses are in good condition, as far as I can see. The clothes of the inhabitants look well cared for, as well as the gardens and the porches of the buildings."

Kelley nodded. "Maybe it's a good idea to walk toward the volcano and look for a vantage point where we can survey the city."

Becky thought it over. Walking there alone would take time, but she didn't have anything better. "Okay, let's do that. Then we have a something to report at least. Even if it's only a estimate where we can find a abandoned home."

It took an hour before the finaly could start their climb. The streets here were broader and quieter, so that they could travel faster. The gazes had become less and Becky began to feel less tense. She wasn't used to being surrounded by so many non-humans.

She was born in district two. Home of the Hunter Clan. She'd never ventured outside her district before, until she joined the Peace Corps. After her transferre to District One she'd met her first Supernatural.

They were halway on their ascent to a place where they had a unopposed view of the city, when they ended up in a square. The houses here were rundown and the gardens unkept.

"Seems we're in the right place."

Becky breathed relieved. "How long do we have?"

"Half an hour before we have to go back again. You take this block, then I will check for a abandoned building in the next quarter." Becky nodded and took one of the side streets while Kelley went up the road.

The architecture of the houses were different here than the rest of the city and wider. In the gardens surrounding the buildings Becky could see yellow, blue and red flowers. Everwhere she could look she saw flowers with shapes she'd never seen before.

As she walked on the gardens became lusher until she arrived at a second square. This one smaller than the one where she and Kelley had separated. The surrounding buildings a lot more neglected.

Becky drank in the sight and walked closer to the gardens when something drew her attention in one of them. It was mostly hidden by flower bushes and Bekcy walked into the garden to get a closer look. She pushed a few of the flowers aside so she could take a close look at what had drawn her attention.

It was a statue. The figure was as big as her and made of a black material. The depicted creature was different form the creatures Becky had seen until now. Now that she thought about it, it looked more like the creatures they'd found in the mass grave.

He was dressed in the same uniform as the soldiers that were burried in the dunes, and stood to his full height. The features were noble and sharp with white spots which formed a mask around his eyes. The look in his red eyes imperious. His hand-like claws were resting on the pommel of a sword at his right side and on a shield that stood to his left.


	5. Meeting the aliens

Renfield watched as the huge body of the alien loomed over Lovegood. His huge horns poking through the thick fur on its head looked razor sharp and Jonno kept a close eye on the two. The were speaking in a language that sounded as a calm stream when the wizardess spoke and a booming river when the creature was speaking.

It didn't sit well with him. The conversation had been going on for quite a while and neither he nor Parker spoke the language. Surely it wouldn't take that long to ask someone where they could sample some of the local history?

Although Lovegood hadn't shown any signs that she was a danger to them, he couldn't say with absolute certainty that she could be trusted.

He looked quickly to his sergeant and saw that he too began to become impatient. Parker coughed to get her attention and indicated that she had to round up the conversation. She nodded and continued.

 _It wouldn't do you any good to worry unnecessarily._ He thought to himself while the wizardess raised her left hand and made a series of complicated gestures. _Just keep your eyes open and don't be tempted by her dreamy nature._ The alien had begun his own series of gestures with his right claw. Making the process a kind of dance. _The mission is important for both groups. No need to thwart each other._

"What did he say?" Parker asked her when she finally had finished the apparent farewell ritual.

She joined them while the alien continued its way and replied, "There are two places where we can look for information. They have an exhibition on the birth of the city and the battle that took place in a museum at the city center. But that will be closing now since it's almost evening. So we have to wait for a few terra hours before we can go there. The second place that we can investigate is the archives of the city. The chronicles and reports of the battles are stored there, but those are not open to the public, unfortunately."

"And since we're not here in an official capacity, we will be unable to demand their release." Added Jonno.

Parker sighed as he looked at his watch and said, "It's time to go to the meeting point. Let's hope the others found a place where we can take shelter for the night. Once we're there, we will formulate a plan for the next few hours.

)(

Parker walked at the front, followed by the wizardess who, as was her habit, stopped walking every time she saw something interesting. And that was often. He began to become irritated so when she stood still to ask something of a Titan, he grabbed her arm in annoyance. "I understand that it's all very fascinating, but we don't have the time. We have 24 hours to find the information. So save it when we're done." That said, he nodded to the creature that Lovegood had approached and pulled her along. "You're attracting too much attention with all those questions." He pushed her in front of him and released her arm. Attention we can't use if we want our mission to succeed."

She shook her head and said, "I only asked them if they had seen any strange appearances."

"Why the hell would you want to know that?"

"What typically happens when people die a violent death?"

"They mostly come back as ghosts. To take revenge." He shuddered and thought back to what they had seen when they examined the grave. "Are you saying that the souls of the creatures from the mass grave are haunting this city?"

"No. Not their spirits. Spirits are tied to a certain place, remember. No, I'm talking about those that were left inside the city." Jonno was walking next to her and turned his gaze towards her in surprise. "You think they were massacred. That would explain why we haven't come across any creatures that resemble them. Even just a little."

"You noticed it too." Lovegood had come to a standstill and stared at him when he turned towards her. "As far as we have seen, this city is inhabited by the creatures that share the characteristics of the soldiers who destroyed the group we found in the mass grave. Of course, we haven't seen the rest of the city, but something tells me that they haven't spared any of the lives of the old inhabitants when they took the city. Not when I think back to the way they murdered their victims."

Jonno remembered the looks of the soldiers while they watched as the small army was driven into the ravine. How they showed no emotion while the cries of despair and pain echoed against the walls when an invisible hand crushed the bodies below by pounding on them with big chunks of rock for several times. Especially the voices of the few child soldiers who had been in the army had been harrowing.

"No, it wouldn't." They were walking again and Jonno looked around him. He began to become aware again of who the people around him were and grabbed the handle of his knife unconsciously. _I will be able to breathe normally again when we've left this city._ _Too many of these fucking monsters._

Suddenly he felt the palm of a hand upon his clenched hand. He turned quickly to the Wizardess who looked worried and snapped at her, "Keep your hands to yourself."

She let him go and said, "I'm sorry, Hunter. I only wanted to point out that you began to draw attention." He frowned and saw how the Titans were staring at him. That their stares were focused on his waist, towards his hidden weapons. He relaxed his fist and let his hand fall at his side.

The Wizardess had started walking again, and Jonno stared at her back when they continued on their way. It was tense, and Jonno began to regret his reaction. It hadn't been his intention to react so violently, but the situation had reminded him of the fact that she wasn't human. Just like the creatures around him. And that made her a potential threat. She was after all a wand user and thus one of the creatures they had hunted, once upon a time. _I had forgotten that because of her gentleness and openness. I have to remind myself that she's dangerous. Too powerful to not be on my guard around her._

"Renfield, Lovegood, what took you so long?" They had left the city and the sergeant was waiting for them impatiently. Becky and Kelley were also there and his partner looked at him questioningly. "Kelly and Rosen have found a place where we can make base for the night. It is a ruin at the old part of the city that's built on the slope of the cryovolcano."


	6. The first night part one

They were standing before an overgrown building. Plants crawled along its walls and into the broken windows. Hidden from view by the jungle of plants surrounding it. It was the perfect place to make camp for the duration they were inside the city. Kelley led the way with Parker and was the first to enter the building. The night had fallen during their walk here and Luna had to fight the urge to summon her light orb.

Luna stepped into the building while Kelley turned on his flashlight. In its soft light, Luna saw that they were standing in a large hall overlooking a hallway and a huge staircase that led to a landing . It had collapsed in several places. She wondered if this was due to the pass of time or something else had happened to it.

The group wandered into the hallway and Luna had to cover her nose. "Damn, what is that stench." The exclamation came from Kelley who shone the light of his flashlight over the walls. covering the walls is a brown, algae like substance that gives off a strong odor. The air entering her nose is corrosive and burns her eyes as she walks closer to the part of the wall that is almost completely covert by the stuff.

They keep walking when Luna feels like she'd suddenly run into an invisible wall. Luna remains rooted on the spot as she's flooded by a wave of emotions. Feelings of hatred, fear, and pain come in waves and constrict her throat, making it difficult for her to properly breath. Her heart pulls together in her chest and her vision becomes blurry as tears fill her eyes. The intensity of the emotions makes her double over and she has to lean against the wall to keep herself from falling to the ground .

"Wizardess Lovegood?" She feels a hand on her shoulder. "Do you feel unwell?" Kelley's voice penetrates the cloud of emotions that hazes her thoughts. She moans and Kelley helps her sit down on the ground.

"Would you like some water?" She shakes her head and tries to control her breathing. Kelley crouches in front of her, trying to look into her eyes. "Is it the mold?" She shakes her head again and takes a few deep breaths. The intensity of the emotions lessens and her head begins to clear again. Carefully and slowly she stands up again when her attention gets drawn to the doorway before her.

"What happened?" Kelleys steps into her vision and looks at her intently .

"Something in that room," she pointed over his shoulder towards the room behind him, "has left behind strong echo's of negative emotions ."

The man turns around and walks to the doorway as he pulls out an EMF meter.

Luna hums softly as she carefully steps past him into the room. The light of her flashlight flits across the room. It's quite large and lying on the ground are mounts of debris casting shadows on the floor and against the walls. The tables and chairs that had furnished the room have fallen apart and are almost disintegrated .

Step by step the wizardess walks into the room while the air around her feels suffocating. When she's almost at the back of the room, she comes to an abrupt halt when the light lands on a pile of dust. Something tells her that this is the source of the negative emotions she'd felt in the hallway.

A shiver runs down her back and moves her hand unconsciously to her left thigh where her wand is hidden . Her hand slides over the handle when she hears the EMF meter give off a squeak behind her. The sound gets louder as it comes closer and goes wild as Kelley comes to a halt next to her.

"Shit." Kelley puts away the EMF meter and crosses himself. A lumps forms inside her throat. "How many do you think have died here?" He asks her.

"Three, maybe four? Does it matter? Given the severity of the residual emotions, it wasn't an easy or gentle death." He makes no comment when he turns around abruptly and walks away with long strides. Luna cast one last quick glance at the pile of dust that had once been the bodies of living beings before she follows the hunter out of the room.


	7. The First Night part two

Becky had a moment of panic when she couldn't see Lovegood anywhere, but when she saw that Sgt. Kelley was missing as well she figured the man with the witch in another part of the building.

She looked at her partner and saw that he'd calmed down. She still didn't know what had happened between him and the witch, but when she had urged him to talk to her, he hadn't said a word.

During their search of the house it became quite clear that none of the rooms were really ideal, so they decided on taking a room at the back of the house.  
It was the only room with a ceiling and its Windows where at least boarded up with planks, keeping the wind out and the light in.

They dumb their stuff against the wall furthers away from the Windows. Becky placed her sleeping roll on the ground and stretched her back and looked around. Parker and Kelley, who had rejoined them when they were installing themselves, were busy at the center of the room.

Parker clears his throat to get their attention and says: "Lovegood has discovered two places where we might find the information that we need. Unfortunately, only one of these places is open to the public. A museum in the city center." They stand around a map that the wizardess had drawn based on her conversations with the aliens.

"If the museum doesn't yield enough information for us to know what happened, we will have to go to the second spot and search it during the night. So tonight we will plan the break-in."

They nodded and he continued on: "Since none of us speaks the language, Lovegood will be taking the lead during the operation."

Becky frowned and was about to speak, but her sergeant interjected before she could say a word: "I know you don't trust her, but at the moment she is the only one of us who can say for sure what information is and is not relevant for our investigation."

"Permission to speak sir?" Jonno said through clenched teeth.

"Permission granted."

"Why _is_ she the only one who speaks it. Why aren't any of us able to speak the language. It doesn't make sense. Doesn't you agree it's too inconvenient if we want to do our job when there's only one person who can communicate with the locals. Besides, we have no way off knowing what they're even talking about, which could form a danger."

"As a special agent, she's part of the Men and Women of Letters and sent here as their spokeswoman. Are you saying you don't trust the organization?"

"Of course not." Renfield sounded offended and frowned when he continued: "The one I don't trust is her. She's a supernatural for god's sake. They were our enemies for centuries until five years ago. She could have a hidden agenda for all we know."

Becky nodded and looked at her partner's face. Whatever had happened between him and the witch, had solidified his stance on the Supernaturals inside their community. She was glad he had finally made up his mind about it and grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

Luna was sitting on the ground and leaned against the wall while she waited patiently until she could rejoin the others. The door to the room opened when suddenly the temperature tumbled down to a few degrees.

Luna looked at Renfield who was standing in the doorway and saw that the light in the room behind him began to flicker. She knew what this meant because of the hunter training she'd been required to follow and shot up. It looked like there were more places inside this building that had seen a violent murder.

She was about to warn Renfield about this when she saw from his face that this wasn't necessary. The man's face was tight and he threw her a warning look before he took out his firearm and turned around. Luna ran after him into the room and threw a quick look over the hunters inside the room.

All of them had their firearm pulled out as they assessed the room. A cold gust of wind blew across the room and the lights in the room turned off.

"Lumos Maxima." The tip of her wand light-up and a sphere of light materialized in the middle of the room.

Then from the shadows at the edges of the room, a shadowy figure appeared. The figure towered above them and came towards them at a slow pace. The blood dripping from his harness was the only color visible because of its intensity. As he comes closer, she recognizes his harness as that of the soldiers from her vision. The ones who watched on emotionless as their enemies were crushed by an invisible force.

A shot echo's across the room and the figure vanishes into thin air as it's shot apart. But a second figure soon takes his place. The second one lays in a small heap on the floor and the emotions that roll of off them is one of pure terror when the figure lifts their head. The face, stained by blood red tear tracks, appears to be young and a wave of immense sadness washes over her.

She looks at the hunters who stand next to her and sees to her surprise that none of them show signs of attacking the figure. She watches on as the figure begins to crawl towards the door when suddenly she's lifted into the air and hurled against the wall with great force.

Appalled she sees how the arms of the poor girl are pined against the wall. Cries of pain and despair fill the room. Cries which are becoming weaker as invisible hands grab her throat until the life seeps out of the battered body of the girl. For one last time, she moves her head sideways before she dissolves into nothing.

It takes a while to overcome her shock from what she saw. "You call a phenomenon like this a death echo, correct?" She focuses on Renfield who is standing next to her: "A spirit that constantly relives the moment of their death?" Renfield nods.

The light turns back on and the hunters put back their weapons. "We leave them mostly alone as they don't endanger the living." Kelley voice is sympathetic as he joins the conversation: "Though some of us believe that we owe it to them to get them out of their loop. So their souls can move on."

"Why?"

"As you probably now, the motto of the hunters is: saving people, hunting monsters. Since not all otherworldly creatures are monsters" he looks at Luna as he says this, "it seems logical to me that the Supernaturals like the dead echo's fall under the category of beings that should be protected."

A feeling of warmth spread through her body. _Would it still be possible_? She wonders as she looks at Renfield who looks dubious but doesn't dodge her look as she makes eye contact with him. She'd begun to doubt his attitude because of how he'd treated her that afternoon.

She's so used to having people approach her with hostility as if they have to protect themselves against her. She was less accustomed to people who treated her with civility. Who gave her the benefit of the doubt. She'd thought Renfield fell into the second category because he'd been sometimes even friendly, making her think that he trusted her enough to not be apprehensive about her powers. She was therefore surprised to see fear in his eyes when she'd laid her hand on his fist that afternoon.

"And yet you don't trust me. Not all the way at least." Renfield and Kelley tense up and look at each other.

"You have to understand Wizardess Lovegood. For many of us, the war still lies fresh in our memories. We know that the Hogwarts clan were our allies and that your species generally don't attack humans. But since we don't know what your role inside this mission is exactly, we are suspicious about your presence here."

"Although I'm of the opinion that we should give you the benefit of the doubt." Kelley sounds slightly irritated as if he and Renfield have discussed this at length. "My instincts are rarely wrong in this kind of situation."

Renfield looks as if he wants to say something, but doesn't get the opportunity as a scream tears trough the air, shaking the wooden planks boarding the windows.


	8. Beginings

No one moves while the hunters inside the room look at each other. The first one to move is Sergeant Parker who points out two of them. "Kelley, Renfield go outside and investigate the source of that scream. Sorceress Lovegood I want you to go with them as their interpreter. And remember to hold up our cover."

"Understood Sir." The two men salute while Luna puts away her wand and pulls her coat tighter around herself. Without waiting for the others she walks towards the door opening while Kelley and Renfield tuck away their weapons. Having done that they follow her at a quick pace.

The hunters walk through the hallway and towards the hall as they pass the fungus. Jonno's eyes begin to prick as an unpleasant feeling gets a hold of him and he looks toward the wall on his left. Had the fungus grown overnight, or is he imagining things? He shakes off the feeling of unease. They don't have time to investigate, nor is it relevant for their stay here. Probably.

He resumes his walk and gets to the hall. When he steps outside, he sees the back of Lovegood disappear around the corner of the house and speeds up his steps.

When they round the corner at the right side of the house, he sees the path branch out to a small field hidden by a hedge and to a path that continues around the house. Kelley points to the ground and Jonno sees that a pair of footprints follows the path towards the field. They follow the footprints quickly, hoping that Lovegood hasn't run off on them.

They walk through the opening in the hedge and step onto the field. The footprints of the sorceress go further onto the field. The grass inside this part of the garden is tall and reaches up to chest height. It hampers their vision as well as the enormous plants that stand in groups throughout the field. They have odd shapes and as Jonno walks past one of the shrubs, he catches a glimpse of a face made of stone.

 _That explains the odd shapes of the shrubs. They are statues covered by the plants that the former residents planted when they lived here._ He thinks to himself.

At the edge of the field they see a hedge of trees and come to an abrupt halt when they pass it.

Standing a few meters before them stands a huge tree and surrounding it is a group of Titans. Nailed to its trunk they see the battered body of a Titan.

They look at each other. Kelley shrugs his shoulders.

"Looks like we were not the only ones who heard the scream."

"But how the hell did they get here so quickly. Isn't this neighborhood abandoned?" Jonno looks towards Kelley who frowns and says: "Doesn't that mean that they shouldn't have heard the scream in the first place?"

"Maybe Lovegood was right." Remembering the conversation he'd had with Lovegood, Jonno tells Kelley what Lovegood had said about a possible haunting inside the city.

"I see." Kelley says. "Let's walk towards them and see if Lovegood is among them. Then we can question them to see if Lovegood was right and if we are indeed dealing with a murderous ghost."

When they arrive at the edge of the group of Titans, Jonno looks up at the body and sees that it's small. The victim's eyes are wide open, just like the mouth. Blood drips along the tree from the many wounds littering the body and tinges the bark of the tree a hue of red.

For a second he diverts his attention to Kelley walking towards Lovegood who is involved in a conversation with one of the aliens. Then he takes his digital glasses from the folds of his coat and put them on. He summons the interface of the glasses and selects the binocular function.

He directs his field of vision on the body and makes an assessment of the corps. The position of the body reminds him of the dead echo back at the house, so he focuses on the neck of the victim. Bruises are visible on the throat and when he moves his gaze towards the face, he sees that they too show traces of blood red tears.

)(

The area is shrouded in shadows, the only light source the interface of the communication system. A holographic hourglass tolls in the air while soft tones fill the silence that hangs between the human and the wizaredess. She had insisted that they would make contact with the top of the Men and Women of Letters. After a long discussion, the captain had given his permission under the condition that he would be present during the conversation. And now they were waiting for their call to get through to headquarters.

Suddenly the melody stops and before them loom the holograms of two figures shrouded in shadows. "Captain Lestrade, what's so important that you have the audacity to contact US?" A distorted voice filled with irritation cuts through the air and Luna feels a chill shoot trough her.

"I'm terribly sorry Sirs, but Wizardess Lovegood insisted that we informed you about something she and two of my hunters have found in the dunes surrounding the area Relicario Aldea."

Luna feels a shiver run down her back as the attention of the two shifts to her. But her confidence doesn't waver and says with a light voice: "Several hours ago, I and my bodyguards stumbled upon a mass grave. I could do some test on the remains inside. But due to a low level of mana, I had to stop my research before I could do a thorough examination.

During the test that I could perform, I found something that could prove interesting for the Organization. The remains of the victims showed a high concentration of sulfur and acid, so I would like to ask your permission to summon a level 12 spell."

The responses to her request are instantaneous. The man next to her stiffens and a wave of scorn crash upon her from the two figures on the other side of the solar system. But she refuses to give up and continues: "I ask because I believe that the soldiers inside the mass grave were victims of a powerful magic attack.

As such, I was hoping to find out more about its source by accessing the memories of the environment. To extract information about the … monster" she had to force the word trough her throat, "that could be responsible for the slaughter of such proportions."

"And you need a level 12 spell for that, because..?"

"There is no other way for me to find out with certainty what exactly happened. Because the Callback spell can also be used to communicate with the victims about the circumstances of the attack."

The oppressive silence that follows gets broken, when one of the figures coughs slightly.

"Normally a situation like this would warrant for a level 12 spell. But since the Callback spell poses no threat to the safety of our soldiers, so you have our permission to cast the spell.

But to make sure this is indeed the spell you're going to use and not another one entirely, you will be accompanied by a small team of hunters."

The figure turns his attention towards Lestrade after this and says: "Captain, I want you and two other hunters off your choice to follow the Wizardess and her bodyguards while she does her investigation. IF it turns out that the attack has an effect on the present time and the local Titans of non-supernatural origin, our orders are to put together a team and to deal with it. To get it resolved before you make your way towards your coordinates. Is that clear?"

"With all due respect Sir, but as this could lead to delays that…"

"IS that clear, Captain Lestrade?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, if that's all?"

Lestrade growls in frustration but nods in confirmation as the call discontinues and they are surrounded by a suffocating darkness.


End file.
